A frequent problem when fishing is the tendency of fishing lures to entangle obstructions within the water, including submerged tree branches, surface brush, rocks, debris and the like. In many instances the lure is lost because either the fishing line snaps when attempting to disengage the lure from the obstruction or the fisherman concludes that the lure cannot be retrieved and resorts to cutting the line.
Over the years, various attempts have been made to address this recurring problem. Prior art devices have proven largely ineffective in conveniently retrieving a satisfactory percentage of the snagged lures. Most of the fishing lure retrievers on the market today provide a mechanism for attaching to the fishing line of a snagged lure, where the line serves to guide the device to the snagged lure. These attaching mechanisms, however, are often cumbersome to operate and/or are susceptible to breaking the fishing line during use. Other devices are simply ineffective in extricating the fish hooks from the obstruction or require precise manipulation in conditions of poor or zero visibility. In this regard, some retrievers only serve to disentangle the lure if the retriever approaches the lure from a particular angle and direction under circumstances in which the operator may not be able to visually determine the proper angle and direction. Moreover, many retrievers have a tendency to themselves become entangled with the fishing line.
To date, the industry has failed to afford an economical and reliable means of retrieving entangled fishing lures. Thus, it would be desirable to have a device which may be quickly and easily used to retrieve a high percentage of lures from their snagged condition.